Letters To Our Future Selves
By Alex Zavala, Ash Fuentes, Natalia Lee, Kleigh Balugo To close out issue 5 and our internal coming of age movies, Kindergarten contributors wrote letters to our future selves. No matter where we are or what we’re doing, we’ll always have these letters to read back. Plus, no one is more fun to talk to…
Time/death
Photo by Athena Rajnai By Athena Rajnai back then you grabbed Father time by his collar and kept begging for more like the coy, soft fawn our eyes glistened prismatic hues when summer came and in the winter were drenched in fear its skin was warm and undisturbed for but a moment and its rib…
Seven Going On Twenty-Five
Photo by Natasha Kalsi By Natasha Kalsi No one tells you at eighteen that by the time you’re twenty-five, you’ll want nothing more than to be seven years old again. I remember always playing badminton in my backyard. The air thick with the lush smell of freshly cut grass. The icecream truck down the road…
Up and Down and Up
Photo by Kleigh Balugo By Ian Watson The scars on my skin began to heal and the compulsions that I once felt began to fade, Once again was I able to experience the wonder and joy that one feels in early childhood. My head was in the clouds but my biggest fear was that balloons…
Stars
Photo by Kleigh Balugo By Cait Thomson i’m still waiting for my coming-of-age for that big break to be the leading lady of my own life like i’d always imagined young and foolish daring and beautiful adjectives as foreign as another language instead i’m always deferring avoiding the spotlight’s glare imposter syndrome has made a…
Kim Gordon and Hope Sandoval
Photo by Dylan Delaney By Isabel Cruz If you’d like to know where I am, I‘ll most likely be in my car, on my way to see loved ones. Some months, I can be found in Northern California where my family resides, and some weeks, when I am not up north, you can find me…
An Ode to My Very Asian Teenage Years
Photo by Silvana Smith By Francesca Bernardino Admittedly, I’m one of those people whose hometown is a major pillar of their personality. I love telling people I meet that I’m from Vegas, and I take a certain joy in explaining how I don’t actually live on The Strip (but practically everything in the city is…
The Coming Of Age Playlist
In the spirit of Issue 5, Kindergarten contributors curated the soundtrack to their lives. These are the songs that would play in the background of our coming of age movies. Listen along with us as the credits start to roll. Listen to the playlist here Ash Fuentes “Cliche” by Mxmtoon None of the songs I’m…
In Loving Memory of ‘Eighth Grade’
Photo by Ash Fuentes By Ash Fuentes I’m so grateful that I existed at the same time that this one movie in particular came out. It may not be exactly well known by many people, but that doesn’t devalue it at all. I don’t mean that in a pretentious filmbuff “I-Only-Watch-Indie-Films-And-My-Favorite-Director-Is-Quentin-Tarantino” type of way, but…
I’m sorry, Alex
Photo by Alex Zavala By Alex Zavala With worry written on my wrists, I stood in suits and surrendered sentences as clear to me as August sunshine but as clear to them as April mists All at once, my brain was revealed as nothing more than a prison, I told them how I engraved pain…
Underrated Coming of Age Films
Photo by Charlotte Turner By Charlotte Turner The coming of age genre is more popular than ever, but sometimes public opinion regarding these films feels a little unvaried. Sure, “Lady Bird,” “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” and “Heathers” are all great, but I don’t need to write another article singing their praises. Instead, here’s…
Mitski Loses Once Again
Song Analysis of “I Bet on Losing Dogs” by Mitski Photo by Silvana Smith By Abbey Steinman As I sit hopelessly on my bed with my headphones at maximum volume, I begin to trail off from reality. Suddenly, it feels like I’ve stayed up all night, but I shortly remember it’s only 7 p.m. I’ve…
they never told me i’d meet You
Photo by Natalia Lee By Natalia Lee they told me it would be hard this i understood and now that i’m here i couldn’t agree more–i learned to not grow up too fast because i’d regret it in the future but the now is the NOW and i’m more childlike than ever-what they didn’t say…
Home is in the Heart
Photo by Kleigh Balugo By Kristen Del Pilar As dinner comes to an end and the conversation trickles to a stop as we all sip our coffee, I think about what a wonderful, beautiful thing it is to have people who will accommodate you, even when you say you don’t love them, even when you…
Driving Thoughts
Photo by Alex Zavala By Alex Zavala being stuck at the red light until the end of time is better than you think because you’re stuck in what happens before life begins, an uneventful brink dressed in your favorite clothes before the never-ending sweat stains, your anxious thoughts can’t leave the car and will never…
I like it when I listen to the 1975 for I am always reminded of my adolescence
Photo by Abbey Steinman By Abbey Steinman The thought of turning 20 has been both the highlight and buzzkill of my year. It’s my last few months being 19, and being this age reminds me that my adolescence is coming to an end. I’m still immature and clumsy. I forget how to do things immediately…
Asian American Lives Yesterday And Today
Photo by Kleigh Balugo By Vinh Tran Trigger Warning: This article won’t depict any of the violent acts against the Asian community, however, it will directly address the history behind American Asian lives. The contents within this article may incite memories of trauma and have the possibility to cause uneasiness for readers. For those who…
The Surface Of The Snow
Photo by Greta Unetich By Greta Unetich I was eighteen when I first saw the trees in the Finger Lakes with leaves that weren’torange, or at least this was the first time I remember seeing them this way.⁕The snow has started to fall again, laid as thick as it was last year in December;blood-orange below…
Revisiting An Old Favorite
Photo by Kleigh Balugo By Tracy Fuentes If you knew me in middle school, you probably know that I was obsessed with the one and only Hunger Games trilogy. I devoured the books once the series popped up on my radar via Tumblr. I went to the premiere of the first movie, going so far…
Side Character Syndrome
Photo by Kleigh Balugo By Kleigh Balugo Why don’t main characters in teen movies ever look like me or my friends? This is a genuine question I have. When I was younger I didn’t understand that the lack of representation for Asians and other POC in the media was rooted in racism. I didn’t think…
Kindergarten 